Energy from a different perspective

This picture shows a model of a hydrogen car on a model of a 250fold enlargement of a hydrogen
storage device. Hydrogen, it turns out, was never completely out of the race as green energy's answer
to the petroleum-driven car. Now Israeli scientists and entrepreneurs claim to have
brought hydrogen energy a step closer by putting it in much smaller, lighter containers.
(AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

WASHINGTON - May 2, 2010 - We usually think of fossil fuels as energy sources. Fuels of all kinds are not sources of energy, but actually are storage devices for energy. Think of them as a kind of battery. This may, at first, seem like a very small distinction without a difference.

Think of a battery:
Recently, a spokesperson from the Hydrogen Association explained that all “fuels” are not really sources of energy at all, but more exactly carrier mediums. Energy (the ability to exert a force) is stored inside fossil fuels and many other materials.

Changes the problem:
The notion of fuel as an energy storage medium revolutionizes the problem to be solved. Transient energy surrounds us. It exists in natural wave action, wind, sunlight, heat from the earth, gravity, and especially in the glue that holds atoms together.

Energy developments:
Over millennia, man learned to free the energy stored from plants and animals, in rocks, and in liquids buried in the earth. He learned to burn wood, animal oils, coal, petroleum, and gas, releasing heat to do work. During the 19th century, the effects of gravity on water were put to work. Uses for electricity were discovered and ways to make it from heat and falling water enhanced our lives. More recently, scientists discovered how to access power in the glue that holds atoms together and generate electricity.

Fuels:
All this stuff in the ground is a finite resource. People worry that pools of oil from which energy is pumped to run machines will eventually run out. It already has run out in some places. Gaining access to reserves has become more expensive. Market forces make scarce commodities increase in value. Much of the easily available oil lives in parts of the world where America is not very popular.

Prosperity:
Prosperity usually has to do with the accumulation of value. Imagine America’s potential value as a large, empty barrel with an opening at the top to pour value in, a relief valve on the side close to the top, and a spigot at the bottom. For 400 years, Americans have added value through the top of the barrel. At first, the settlers used mostly resources from here at home. They became prosperous.

When the value in the barrel got to a certain level, it came out the side through the relief valve into another container. We packed up the container and exported it to other countries. They sent back some of their value and America got a bigger barrel.

Opening the spigot:
As America became rich, it exhausted some of the resources it had used to create value. The spigot at the bottom of the barrel opened and value started to drain out. America was forced to buy resources from others in the same way foreign countries had purchased excess value (exports) from Americans. Worse, other countries now compete for the same limited resources (read fuel) and the cost goes up. The spigot today drains existing value faster than new value can be created to refill it. Eventually, America’s value barrel will run dry unless a new way can be found to fill it.

After heat from fire and cooking, the first transient energy man learned to use was wind. It pushed his sailing ships from one place to another. Later, people learned to cook using the sun. The problem with wind is it doesn’t blow all the time. The problem with sun is it doesn’t shine all the time. Man retains this original challenge. A common sense way must be found to take all that natural energy around us and find a way to store it so it can be trotted out on rainy days, at night, or when the wind doesn’t blow. When America finds a way to store transient energy for later use, it can close the spigot on the bottom of the barrel and value will accumulate again.

Measuring success:
How will success be measured? The most commonly used measure is called a BTU. A BTU is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of a pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. We know how to capture energy in storable forms. Up until now, conversion of this transient energy into something that can run machines has been more expensive than the value of the energy stored.

America has not been very efficient about grabbing free energy from the planet and distributing it as electricity. Up to 30 percent of electricity is lost in transmission. This will improve as a smart grid is rebuilt.

Barriers:
The true barriers to harnessing natural energy sources are two. The first barrier is technological. Time will solve most of this problem. The second barrier is harder. Storing energy in batteries and liquefied gases for times when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing has been un-economic.

Demand for energy varies with the hour of the day and the season of the year. As a result, all power generation facilities have been deliberately overbuilt so that peak demands can be serviced. Power plants need on/off switches to meet peak demand. Expensive fuel is added when demand is high.

The Cape Cod contribution:
The wind farm approved off Cape Cod last week will run at an average of 38 percent of capacity (182 megawatts). Suppose all that extra capacity could be harnessed when not needed and stored away for later and to drive your car. There is little to no incremental cost incurred by running wind farm power plants at maximum capacity all the time. Storing BTUs as hydrogen made by electrolysis from water and electricity makes the process (electrolysis) economically feasible.

The same logic works with hydroelectric, solar, wave action, nuclear, and geothermal generation stations.

According to the government, Americans use about 100 quadrillion BTUs each year. Only about 25 quadrillion BTUs originate from fuels imported from outside the U.S. This one small wind farm is capable of generating about 10 trillion BTUs. Some can be used to power the standard electric grid as intended. Because of the new wind generation, some oil and natural gas produced domestically can be repurposed for vehicles.

The world will not change tomorrow:
Internal combustion engines are going to be with us for a long time to come. Exploration for domestic sources of fuel must continue. Offshore drilling is necessary, but more problematical until it can be made safer.

Critics:
Nuclear stations power 80 percent of France’s electrical need. Critics have questioned the value of wind, solar, geothermal, and bio-fuel and characterized these plants as ugly and inefficient. Maximizing these new, free, transient energy sources if stored energy can be produced  changes everything. When looked at using generally applicable measures, it becomes easier to see how the spigot at the bottom of the old value barrel can be turned off.

Hydrogen:
Hydrogen is an interesting material. It can be burned like fossil fuels and produce energy in the same old way. It can also be used to create electricity in fuel cells. The most appealing aspect of fuel cells is their waste product; water.

Both Iceland and Brazil made the decision to be energy independent some years ago. Brazil used biomass to make alcohol. Iceland used geothermal energy to make hydrogen. The Icelandic experiment was a success until they realized that a source for affordable hydrogen fuel cell cars did not yet exist. Time has passed and affordable hydrogen vehicles are on the horizon.

Benefits:
The potential for solutions exists. American jobs will be created building and maintaining hydrogen plants and infrastructure. Hydrogen will be sold and add to GDP. Outflows of American value can be eliminated or reduced. The need to send troops to protect supply is minimized. Increased economic activity can act to mitigate existing debt.

A small distinction can make a huge difference.

Al Portner is a former daily newspaper editor and publisher in seven states and author of the forthcoming “Mark Twain and the Tale of Grant’s Memoir.” Portner is also the proprietor of The Assignment Desk, LLC and provides writers, editors, and photographers for numerous kinds of contract projects from proposals and speeches to public relations and journalism. Reach him at alanportner@gmail.com.